A fairy-tale film in two senses of the word. The story is set in the world of 1001 Nights and the film looks like a fairy-tale.In 11th-century Andalusia, at a time when Christians and Muslims in Spain together created a high-grade culture, the young trainee calligrapher Hassan is in search of all sixty-six Arabic characters for and meanings of the word and concept of love. His life seems blissful; his surroundings are like a sweet-smelling garden with wise inhabitants who overflow with love. He is a secret admirer of his employer’s daughter, who lives in isolation behind the walls which surround her parents’ home. Thanks to Zin, an eight-year-old boy who functions as messenger, the lovers keep in touch.Hassan’s life takes a different turn when he reads the pages of a half-burnt manuscript. Deeply touched by what he reads — the manuscript seems to comprise the secrets of love — he does everything he can to find the missing text. A dangerous journey follows as Hassan and Zin become involved with religious quarrels which will lead to a dramatic war. Hassan’s utopian city also becomes involved in the war, his friend Zin is killed and the palace of his master turned into a ruin.Tawk al hamama al mafkoud was first screened in Berlin in 1991, when the Gulf war was at its height. This coloured many reviews of the film. The film has been called an alternative view of the humanist and richly artistic Mohammedan culture, but it has been especially praised for being made with the elegance of Arabic calligraphy.
